In the darkest time there is light
by JulieGreen
Summary: A story about Aria a classmate of Charlie Weasleys and how they help the Order during a longer wizarding war where Harry takes more than a year to search for the horcruxs


Chapter 1

The lump in my throat wouldn't go away no matter how much I tried to swallow as the elevator zoomed to the end destination where my new job was waiting for me. My stomach twisted in knots, the Ministry had become so different after Thichnesse became Minister. "Doing it for the Order" I chanted in my head o keep my nerves at bay as I walked after miss Hopkirk masking it with a smile every time she mentioned some of her relatives that worked in the ministry. "You're lucky to have gotten the position when you only have foreign experience and no family that already works here, Miss Malkin" She smiled at me but her eyes told me she wasn't impressed with my work at MACUSA. We finally reached the end of the corridor "Your first job is to keep on top the all the incoming detail that regards the movement of all magical people in Britain" she pointed at a desk that was already overflowing with papers "Please have it all sorted by lunch" she turned and walked over to a neatly cleared desk and sat down getting on with her day. I had clearly been dismissed and I set to work.

"Charlie!" I smiled as I hugged him tight "I haven't seen you in ages!" feeling his strong arms around me send me straight back to when we were inseparable the last four years of attending. Back then we had been the best of friends but we lost contact when I went to New York and he had chosen to chase dragons for a living. "Aria, you haven't changed much in six years" He let go of me so he could get a better look and smiled "That's not true. I cut my hair and everything!" I exclaimed not wanting to still look like a student. He, on the other hand, had changed a lot, he was still about half a head taller than me, but he had put on a lot of muscle and he looked a lot less polished. "why are you in the states?" I was quite aware how all my coworkers were looking at me a bit puzzled by why a British dragon handler was standing in front of my desk. For Charlie not to be somewhere in eastern Europe meant something was wrong, for Charlie to be in New York where there were absolutely no dragons, as far as I knew, meant that times had changed in the UK. "I need you to come back to Europe" he smiled while he said it but those blue eyes of his looked serious. "Charlie…" I began "We can't talk about it here when are you on break?" he cut me off as he looked around" "I'll take you out for tea?" He took my arm and I followed him out of the office.

I should have known that I couldn't say no to joining the Order, even though it scared me more than I wanted to admit. "We need a smart Ravenclaw like you" had his last words been before he left that afternoon in New York. It had taken some time to get everything fixed so I could return to London and do my job for the Order. Now I was sitting at a desk in the Ministry sorting all the tracking information on all wizards in Britain. I still didn't know how the Order managed to get me the position but they needed someone to keep an eye on all the trackings that had been started a couple of years ago. The odd thing was that my workplace was in the Office for Improper Use and somehow people didn't realize to which extend the Ministry was actually aware of what they were doing.

I set to work sorting everything and trying to create some sort of system where I could keep an eye on any of the members of the Order as well as Harry, Ron, and Hermione. They were actually my main focus but I couldn't help scanning almost all of the papers landing at my desk. Most of my day consisted of filling the new updates and updating the old documents under the scrutiny of Miss Hopkirk. "Remember our job is of a lot of importance for the Ministre of Magic," she said after I came back from lunch. "Some people just don't understand the importance of knowing about the enemies of our society" she smiled and went back to her desk "It's nice to see some young people are bright enough to choose the right ways in life, even though you had some questionable friends in school" she said as she started working again, she didn't have to explain that she knew that I had friends now fighting against the regime. I swallowed hard and nodded "Yes" I mumbled as I shuffled some papers.

As I walk to the fireplaces in the Atrium some of the nerves that had been there the whole day left my body with each step towards freedom. Looking around everything was so much different from MACUSA and from when I visited the Ministry as part of an inspiration trip in my 7th year, there was no chatter, nobody stopping to hear how their colleges in other departments where doing, everyone raced to get out of the building and away from the surveillance that was everywhere. Stepping into the fireplace I tried to clear my head and focus on where I wanted to go. I never really got used to the sensation of using Floo powder but since it wasn't possible to apparate in and out of the Ministry anymore, it was the only choice I had. "Diagon Ally" I let go of the powder felt the familiar pull in my stomach as everything went black for a couple of seconds. Landing inside the Leaky Cauldron, I quickly got out of the fireplace and moved towards the door, the pub had changed from once a bustling meeting place to now a deserted gloomy place with two wizards sitting in the corner, probably from the ministry keeping track on all the people coming and going. Getting to my aunt's shop didn't take long even though there was only a month until school started again, where it previously would be bustling with students and their parents, there was only the odd shopper hurrying from one shop to the other. The heels of my shoes almost echoing as I walked towards the shop trying not to stop and look at Olivanders broken up store.

"Hello, Auntie!" I smiled as I stepped into the store and walked towards the back stair, waving at her as she helped a young first year student with his dress robes. She only smiled back and went about pinning up the cuffs.


End file.
